BLOOMINGTON – Illinois' shortage of people who can perform autopsies for county coroners has left local authorities scrambling to make adjustments and a state association vowing to recruit more, according to a published report Sunday.

Illinois has fewer than 20 board certified forensic pathologists who perform autopsies. About half work in the Cook County, which includes Chicago and is the state's most populous county, The (Bloomington) Pantagraph reported.

Counties in central Illinois got a second pathologist last year, meaning that pathologists can divide a workload that included 585 autopsies at the McLean County morgue last year. Most of the bodies came from 15 other counties.